September 21, 2018

U.S. News & World Report: “What Is a Good MCAT Score?”

September 20, 2018

TopMBA: “Why Prospective MBA Students are Turning to GMAT Tutors”

September 18, 2018

Newsday: “Barron’s Educational sells name, some assets to Kaplan Test Prep”

Publishers Weekly: “Kaplan Buys Educational Assets, And Name, from Barron’s”

Kaplan Acquires Barron’s-Branded Test Prep, Study Aids and Foreign Language Assets from Barron’s Educational Series

Note to editors: Kaplan is a subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company (NYSE: GHC)

Press Contacts: Russell Schaffer, russell.schaffer@kaplan.com, 212.453.7538
Lonny Stein, lonny@barronseduc.com, 631.434.3311
Twitter: @KapTestNews

New York, NY (September 18, 2018) — Kaplan Test Prep, a premier provider of educational and career services, announced it has acquired the test prep, study aid and foreign language assets of Barron’s Educational Series, a leading book publisher. As part of the transaction, Kaplan will also acquire the Barron’s brand name. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1941, Barron’s is the leader in prep for the New York State Regents exams and one of the most recognized and trusted brands among test prep books. Over the years, the company expanded into a range of other publishing fields including children’s books, pet care manuals, cookbooks and many others. Its expansive catalogue includes over 2,000 titles in all categories. The acquisition will include about 650 titles covering all test prep and study aid assets, as well as foreign language, reference, business, and law titles. The best-selling children’s, parenting, cooking, art, hobby and craft, coloring and activity, and pet books will remain in print and now be published under a new name, B.E.S. Publishing, located in Hauppauge, NY.

The acquired Barron’s portfolio is expected to benefit from Kaplan’s digital and product development expertise, state-of-the-art content and learning management system, and distribution arrangements across the globe.

“Kaplan and Barron’s have always had a symbiotic relationship since our founder, Stanley Kaplan, worked for Manuel Barron decades ago to help a generation of students prep for the Regents exams. As we look to prep future generations, we are thrilled to bring Barron’s into our portfolio and look forward to helping the Barron’s brand flourish,” said John Polstein, CEO, Kaplan Test Prep.

Polstein asserted that Kaplan has no plans to integrate the brands, noting, “Kaplan and Barron’s have both been successful taking different approaches to instruction and learning, as they appeal to different types of learners. We plan to continue with that approach.”

“I couldn’t be more pleased to pass the torch on to a company that shares the same roots and values as Barron’s,” said Manuel Barron, founder and CEO of Barron’s Educational Series. “Kaplan has also been a strong innovator in delivering educational programs and products, and I’m thrilled that Kaplan will be powering the future of the Barron’s brand to new generations of students.”

About Kaplan Test Prep

Kaplan Test Prep (www.kaptest.com) is a premier provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools and businesses. Established in 1938, Kaplan is the world leader in the test prep industry. With a comprehensive menu of online offerings as well as a complete array of print books and digital products, Kaplan offers preparation for more than 100 standardized tests, including entrance exams for secondary school, college and graduate school. Among those tests are the SAT®, PSAT®, ACT®, GRE®, GMAT®, LSAT®, and MCAT®. Kaplan also provides private tutoring and graduate admissions consulting services.

About Barron’s Educational Series

Founded in 1941, Barron’s Educational Series is renowned for its SAT, ACT, and AP test prep books, its Regents manuals, and its Profiles of American Colleges. Over the years, Barron’s has expanded into many other publishing fields, introducing extensive lines of children’s books, foreign language learning guides with downloadable audio, pet care manuals, gift books, cookbooks, coloring and adult activity books, business and financial advice guides, parenting advice books, and art instruction books with companion online videos, in addition to learning materials on MP3, Apps, and Bonus Online Content. On average, Barron’s publishes approximately 200 new titles a year and maintains an extensive backlist of over 2,000 titles in all categories. Barron’s books are recognized for their reliability and high quality standards by educational and institutional book buyers, as well as by retailers and consumers around the globe.

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Kaplan Bar Review Survey: Newly Minted Lawyers Reflect More Progressive Thinking, But Hold Traditional Views on Selection Process for Supreme Court Justices

Note to editors: Kaplan is a subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company (NYSE: GHC)

Press Contact: Russell Schaffer, russell.schaffer@kaplan.com, 212.453.7538
Twitter: @KapTestNews, @KaplanBarReview

A new Kaplan Bar Review survey finds that a plurality of newly minted lawyers want the next SCOTUS justice to be like Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

New York, NY (September 6, 2018) — A new Kaplan Bar Review survey of more than 600 newly minted lawyers shows a dichotomy between political perspective and institutional rationale: while they lean politically progressive, they also believe in the traditional process of how U.S. Supreme Court justices are chosen and in the position’s lifetime tenure.

    • Rule like RBG: When asked which member of the Supreme Court the next justice should emulate, respondents overwhelmingly favored Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who topped the list with 41 percent, followed by Sonia Sotomayor at 19 percent. The recently retired Anthony Kennedy was the choice of 11 percent of respondents. While none of the other current justices secured more than 10 percent of responses, the justices viewed as the liberal bloc (Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan) combined are the choice of 67 percent, while those considered to be part of the conservative bloc (Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, John Roberts, and Clarence Thomas) are the combined choice of 22 percent. (Kennedy, long a swing vote on the Court, was not included in this categorization.)
    • Lifetime Tenure: Although many of those surveyed may be concerned that the Court is set to tilt to the right for a generation with the likely confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, 65 percent of those surveyed still support a lifetime appointment for SCOTUS justices. According to one analysis, the average tenure of Supreme Court justices over the next century will be about 35 years, compared to just 18 years for the past 100 years.
    • By Appointment Only: These recent law school graduates also oppose changes to how Supreme Court justices make it to the bench, with only 24 percent supporting the idea of electing justices rather than Presidents nominating them for confirmation.
    • Beyond the Harvard and Yale Club: Despite their traditionalist views in some areas, these new attorneys want radical change in another. Every sitting Supreme Court justice attended either Yale or Harvard law school (Ginsburg started at Harvard, but ultimately graduated from Columbia), and today’s law school graduates want to widen the doors of opportunity, with only 22 percent saying justices should have graduated from a T-14 school, which is defined as being a school that has at some point been ranked in the top 14 of the U.S. News & World Report Law School rankings.

“Who sits on the Supreme Court is one of today’s most divisive issues, but Ruth Bader Ginsburg is one of those rare personalities in the U.S. who seems to transcend ideology, as for many, she’s not only a brilliant legal mind, but also a pop culture icon. This could explain her popularity among the new generation of lawyers,” says Tammi Rice, vice president, Kaplan Bar Review. “It’s also clear from our survey that today’s new lawyers are telling us that there is a lot of potential Supreme Court talent beyond just Cambridge and New Haven.”

*Kaplan Bar Review conducted the survey via email in July 2018. It includes responses from 612 law school graduates from the class of 2018 who took a Kaplan bar review course.

About Kaplan Bar Review

Kaplan Bar Review (www.kaplanbarreview.com) provides full-service bar review programs in 51 jurisdictions (all 50 states and Washington, DC). Additionally, Kaplan Bar Review offers supplemental preparation for the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE).

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August 30, 2018

TopMBA: “Why MBA Candidates are Striving For Higher GMAT Scores”

August 28, 2018

NBC  – Raleigh, NC: “Ask Laura: How can teens put their best foot forward online for colleges? Get on LinkedIn”

August 22, 2018

The Daily Record: “Harvard Law likes initial results from GRE experiment”

August 21, 2018

U.S. News & World Report: “What Is a Good College GPA in J.D. Admissions?”

August 20, 2018

TopMBA: GMAT or GRE? What Do Business Schools Really Think